Gavin's Blog

Oma & Opa Visit Newcastle

2012-02-13T14:05:00.000-08:00

After our lovely Lunch in Pizza Express we headed to The Jesmond Dene for a visit to the Childrens Animal Corner.

Lunch at Pizza Express with two very well behaved Grandchildren and of course Leo just had to bring Thomas the Tank Engine as well.

Opa Han with his Grandson Leo and in the bag is Thomas the Tank Engine and some of his friends who accompany Leo wherever he goes.

Two Grannies with their lovely Grandaughter Hannah on the beach at Tynemouth. We had a lovely couple of days with Han & Jo who are over in Newcastle all week to look after Hannah during the school half-term holiday. Leo is attending Nursery so is not on holiday but will make up for lost time with them once he gets home.

Another "Last of the Summer Wine " Walker

2012-02-08T12:42:00.000-08:00

This weeks walk started at the lovely Cumbrian village of Askham and was according to Tom a 10 mile walk including Knipescar Common and Knipe Moor. The weather was glorious but very, very cold. A new recruit to our walking group joined us namely Peter Bart-Smith who has now retired and after completing alterations to his house is able to join us now and again. The main quilification to join this grand bunch of men is to get us lost on a walk and this Peter accomplished well, after telling us to turn right when it should have been left resulting in our 10 mile walk becoming a 12 mile walk.

The top of Knipescar Common

Knipe Scar after we had dropped down into Haweswater Beck valley.

The old footbridge accross Haweswater Beck. This was quite an experience and a good job I crossed first to take the photograph as I dont know if it would have taken the three of us at the same time. We arrived back in Askham 5 hours later after a most enjoyable walk especially as it would normally have been very muddy but as the ground was frozen we kept reasonably clean.

Gretna Walk

2012-02-01T11:47:00.000-08:00

Our walk this week took us to Gretna and on a superb but cold day we commenced our walk from the Auld Smithy at Gretna Green. The first stop was the bridge over the West Coast Railway Line where the worst rail disaster in in Britain took place in 1915. It was at Quintinshill where 5 trains were involved in a disaster that killed 226 people, mostly soldiers from the Royal Scots Regiment on their way to Liverpool to board a ship for the Gallipoli campaign. In the photograph above the 2 main lines are flanked by 2 sidings and it was here that the troop train coming south collided with the local train and eventually 5 trains were involved.

Part of the walk followed the River Sark which forms the Scotland - England Border. This is the Sark Bridge which was built by Thomas Telford in 1814 and widened in 2001. Thomas Telford left his mark on the bridge and it is now displayed at a small cairn next to the bridge as you can see below.

Thomas Telfords Mark

Crossing the border.

We followed the Sark to where it joins the Esk and it is here that the Esk forms a channel on the Solway. When the tide comes in the Esk will be covered by the sea.

The walk finished back at Gretna Green and I am advised that Tom & John are just good friends.

Bird Ringing

2012-01-29T04:30:00.000-08:00

Since becoming involved with the Moorland Education Project 4 years ago I have taken a great interest in the Moorland and its birds. I headed out to the Moorland Feeding Station this morning to see Cat Barlow ringing some of the birds. She was delighted to catch a pair of Common Crossbills for the first time ever as you can see by the smile on her face as she holds the Male Crossbill.

Male Common Crossbill

In the net. The are perfectly safe and only Cat can handle them as she has been trained by RSPB.

A Robin

Teviothead Walk

2012-01-25T09:28:00.000-08:00

This weeks walks was a Teviothead Circular from the book "Walking in the Land of the Reivers" by I.W.Landles & A.G.Brydon. We had intended to walk the first part of the walk along the road and then take the route back on the other side of the valley along the ridge. By the time we had walked the first 3 miles with a gale force wind in our faces we decided not to climb to the ridge as the wind strength was increasing and the rain was horizontal. The wind would have been behind us but the hills were beginning to dissapear in the clouds so we decided to head back the way we had come and were blown along back to the car in about half the time it had taken us when the wind had been in our faces. The above photograph is looking up the A7 towards Mosspaul.

The walk starts at Carlenrig where Johnnie Armstrong and 36 of his followers were hung by King James V in 1530.

At the top part of the Teviotdale road there is a memorial cairn to Motor Cycle Racing Star Steve Hislop (Hizzy). He won the Isle of Man TT Eleven times but was killed in a helicopter accident in Teviotdale in 2003. For further information please look at the following website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Hislop

The most striking building on this walk is the Teviothead Church Manse which is bigger than the church. Rural churches many years ago were built round very strong communities and the Minister was the most important person in the valley and therefore had a house which reflected his status in the area. The Manse of course was also a haven for people needing help and assistance therefore they had to be fairly large.

Lowther Walk

2012-01-18T14:36:00.000-08:00

Another Wednesday so another walk for Tom, John, and myself. We headed to Lowther and a walk from the superb walks book published by Penrith Ramblers for an 8.5 mile walk from Lowther and including the lovely village of Askham. The weather forecast last night was not good so we decided to delay our departure to 10.00am as it looked as if by lunch time the rain would clear. We were lucky however as it was dry at 10.00am and we never had a drop of rain all day. We were hardly as far as Canonbie when I realised I had forgotten my camera so these photos are courtesy of John and taken on his I-Phone. The above picture is Lowther Castle which is in the process of a big makeover which looks as if it is costing a small fortune and I dont know if it will be suitable to live in when it is completed. More research is required so I will provide the information at a later date if I can find out.

As we reached the higher ground on the walk towards Askham Fell we passed by this cultivation area which had been used in the 16th Century. I dont know what kind of crops the settlers there would grow but it looked very impressive but nowadays only sheep graze there.

This is the highest point on the walk at Heughscar Hill and it gives superb views over Ullswater. At this point we took a wrong turning and missed the small gap in the trees that we were supposed to go through so we added another mile to the walk. Can't even blame Tom this time as he was not in charge of the map. Maybe John just wanted to make it a 10 mile walk.The walk was completed by 3.30pm and was just under the 10 miles, although John added the extra half mile along the road in the time it took Tom to change his boots. If you know Tom you will realise that John had plenty of time to do his extra half mile.

Hunters Trail at 7Stanes - Newcastleton

2012-01-11T09:12:00.000-08:00

For a long time I have wanted to explore walking trails at the 7Stanes Biking Centre at Newcastleton so armed with some information from the internet Tom and I headed off today to do the 9 mile Hunters Trail. This is a circular trail following mostly forest roads with about a mile of it on a lovely path at the furthermost and highest point (1100ft) which joins the 2 forest roads together. It was a superb walk and not a bike in sight. We walked for over 3 hours and never saw a soul but plenty of wildlife and there are loads of picnic areas for your lunch break and even posts for tying your horse to.

This was some mosses at the side of the trail. There are loads of wildlife areas with ponds and burns.

We never saw the sun but it looked to be shining at the other side of the valley. We were lucky however and had no rain all the time we were walking.

All over the place you can see lots of old Steils going back to a time before the forest was planted and there would be sheep farming on the open hills.

Solway Walk

2012-01-05T08:40:00.000-08:00

We had decided some time ago to walk on Thursday this week instead of the usual Wednesday and thank goodness we did. Yesterday was horrible and I was hardly over the doorstep all day so when I opened the curtains this morning to see blue skies it was a real treat. We headed for Allonby on the Cumbria Solway Coast wih the intention to catch a bus to Maryport at 10.25am and then walk back approx. 6 miles to Allonby. Tom was driving so it looked as if it would be a close run thing if we were to catch the bus but as we parked the car opposite the bus stop in Allonby the bus came round the corner and we managed to flag it down and get on board. It may have been blue skies but the gale force wind was still blowing and it was very cold. We stopped after about an hour to have a coffee in Maryport Golf Course and made it back to the car after about 2.5 hours walking. The photograph above of John &Tom is overlooking the entrance to Maryport Harbour from the 1 mile long promenade along the coast.

John and Gavin well wrapped up. A very enjoyable walk finished of with a plate of soup in the Golf Hotel, Silloth.

Hannah's 6th Birthday

2012-01-03T02:15:00.000-08:00

Hannah was 6 years old yesterday so we headed off to Newcastle for her party. Leo decided he would also go to the party and was on his best behaviour despite having 10 girls bossing him around.

The Birthday Cake made by Fiona and it tasted as good as it looked.

In comes the Birthday Cake with Leo looking on as he sat on Elaine the Elf's knee. Elaine was a star as she entertained the girls and kept them amused for 2 hours.

Hannah manages to blow out most of the candles first go but the last one took a wee bit longer.

A Day out at Kelso Races

2011-12-29T09:34:00.000-08:00

Gaye and I were invited by David and Alix to their box at Kelso for todays's National Hunt meeting. The box was situated just past the winning post and gave us a superb view of the whole coarse. We wined and dined in style but managed to back only 1 winner. That I should add was a 3 horse race and Tom, Gaye, and I each backed a horse with my one winning so could not be classed as a genuine winner. We did however have a superb day in excellent company with the photograph of Gabrielle showing how good the situation of our box was.

The first race of the day with my money on the horse without the rider as he was unseated at about the third fence. Definately the pattern for the day with most of my horses either coming in last or falling. It is a good job it was only £2 a race I was betting.

Holiday Walk

2011-12-28T05:42:00.000-08:00

Our Wednesday walk this week was a bit shorter than usual as it was a bad forecast and also because we were joined by Ken & Susan who had a busy schedule. We decided to go roung the Potholm but went the wrong way as the wind was in our face along the Potholm road and it was like walking through treacle with the strong wind in our faces. We were lucky however as it remained dry and Tom and I learnt a lot about the Power Industry as Ken works for Scottish Power and is involved in the Wind Turbine industry and daughter Susan works for EON and is in power generating with special responsibility for the Lockerbie Biomass Power Station.

Ken, Susan, and Tom on the Jubilee Bridge

Boxing Day Visitors

2011-12-26T07:19:00.000-08:00

Fiona's friends Graham & Luke arrived from Glasgow to see us all on Boxing Day so a walk to feed the ducks was in order and then round by Langholm Castle on the Ty Pennington Walk.

No visit to Langholm can be complete without a visit to feed the ducks.

Back home and another chance to see Thomas the Tank Engine on Grandad's I Pad. Two redheads and a blonde.

Christmas Day

2011-12-26T01:56:00.000-08:00

Hannah & Leo start to open their presents left by Santa under the Christmas Tree. Leo says "not another Thomas the Tank Engine" but he is really very happy receiving anything to do with Thomas and his friends.

Hannah is very happy with her new Dressing Gown

Cousin Susan is in great demand as a story teller.

Tom wakens from his pre Christmas Dinner Nap.

Hannah at Moorland Bird Feeding Station

2011-12-24T05:11:00.000-08:00

One of my jobs during the Christmas holiday is to fill up the feeders at the Moorland Feeding Station while Dr. Cat Barlow is on holiday. As Hannah is in Langholm on holiday she helped me to do this valuable job. we were assisted by son in law Mario and my cousin Susan.

Hannah & Susan fill up a feeder

Hannah was determined to get the last bit of seed out of the bag

Bothy at Greensykes up Meggat Water

2011-12-14T11:35:00.000-08:00

The purpose of todays Wednesday walk was to visit the new Mountain Bothy opened at Greensykes up Meggat water. It has taken several years for the volunteers from the MBA to get this opened but it is a superb Bothy and well worth a visit. We parked the car at the Thomas Telford Memorial Car Park at Glendinning and headed up the Forestry road to the east of the Meggat and up the valley of the Hairgrain Burn which is a total of 7.5 miles circular.

After about 4.5 miles the Bothy comes into view and it has been well roofed and re built, although there is still a bit of work still to be done especially clearing up outside as they have knocked down some of the outhouses.

In this photograph the Bothy looks perfect but hidden from view is all the rubble outside which is still to be cleared.

Inside it is fairly basic with 3 rooms. This is the first room you enter and when we arrived we found the room to be very warm and then realised the wood burning stove was still on. On looking at the visitors book we discovered two people from Edinburgh had spent last night in the Bothy and just left a few hours before we arrived. We stuck a couple more logs on the excellent Wood Burning Stove and enjoyed our packed lunch in real style in cumfortable chairs and with a grand fire giving off a good heat. The other two rooms are bedrooms with sort of platforms for beds and in one of them there is an open fire and two comfortable chairs. There is of course no electricity although plenty of candles and plenty of wood stacked and drying for the fires. At the moment there is no toilet but that will be built next year. In the visitors book we were amazed to see how many people have stayed there in the few months it has been open.

Some of the visitors to the Bothy have been Mountain Bikers as there are superb forestry roads in the area and this must make it very attractive for Bikers. The comments left by last nights visitors was that it was an excellent escape from Christmas shopping. If I had to stay the night I think you would need a nice bottle of whisky to help you sleep as the beds looked a bit hard.

Outside the Haig Maternity Hospital in Hawick

2011-12-07T14:46:00.001-08:00

This is the Video of Tom giving the story of David's 70th Birthday

David & Tom's Birthday Walk

2011-12-07T13:44:00.001-08:00

This was supposed to be David's Birthday Walk a week ago but unfortunately he has back problems and his physiotherapist has advised him to rest for a few weeks so he was unable to be with us. Tom's birthday is December so we decided to make this his walk. We started at the old Haig Maternity Hospital in Hawick where David was born 70 years ago. Tom gave a very interesting speech to Absent Friends which I have recorded but the file seems to be too large for my blog. We then headed out to Hawick Golf Club too meet up with Ian Landles from Hawick who was going to give us a conducted tour of the Vertish Hill. Ian is a well known Hawick & Scottish personality and is in great demand as a Public Speaker.

Ian recited the poem by David Hill called "The Vertish" on the actual Vertish Hill at Hawick Golf Club at the very Tee where Bill MacLaren hit a hole in one to score an Albatross a good few years ago. Ian also recited a poem of his own about his own exploits on Hawick Golf Course. This was extremely funny and I must admit it is a great pleasure to listen to poetry delivered by the author of the poem at the very place he is refering to in his poem.

Ian Landles parted company with us after about 90 minutes and we headed on round the route the riders take on Hawick Common Riding Day. The wind was very strong and in our faces so we made slow progress in very boggy ground and are photographed above and below at the Cairn where the Burgesses Roll was called in the early days of Hawick Common Riding.

The journey back to Hawick from here via the Hawick Moor Racecourse was much easier with the strong wind on our backs we were fair blown along and we finished our excellent Birthday Walk at the Drum Cafe in Hawick with a great bowl of soup followed by Cakes.

Leo's 2nd Birthday

2011-11-20T09:53:00.000-08:00

Granny Gaye with Hannah & Leo

The birthday boy opens his presents with big sister looking on

Leo can really find his way round the I Pad

Me and my girl

Thats a lot of food to get through

Hannah and Annelisa

Leo wanted to blow out his 2 candles but he needed help from Jack

Black Esk Reservoir Walk

2011-11-17T02:57:00.000-08:00

Another Wednesday so another walk and this time we headed north up to the Black Esk Reservoir. The weather was glorious and the sun shone for most of the 7.5 mile walk round the reservoir.

There are plans to increase the height of the dam and therefore increase the amount of water it holds. Looking closely at this photograph you will see the tear in my trousers in a very embarrasing place caused by some barbed wire on a fence.

This line of Cherry trees below the dam were laden with fruit, although it is not very clear in this photograph.

Tom reckons they will never increase the hight of the dam as people will object, but there are only a few people in the whole area so unlikely anybody would object.

Hartside Walk and the Highest Cafe in England

2011-11-10T01:22:00.000-08:00

It was Tom's choice for the regular Wednesday Walk so he selected this walk from an excellent publication produced by the Penrith Ramblers of Walks in the Eden Valley. Tom advised us this would take us to the highest cafe in England so we set off from Gamblesby with eager anticipation and looking forward to a nice cup of tea and lunch at the cafe. On our way to the start of the walk in Gamblesby we met Tootlepedal and Dropscone on the A7 as they headed off on their daily cycle. This started an interesting discussion on the merits of cycling or walking and we decided we prefer the weekly full day walk rather than a daily cycle. The crack is much better when you are walking than cycling and in a day's walk we can solve all the world's problems. Anyway we headed up the lovely footpaths to Hartside climbing from the start at 500ft to almost 2000ft at the summit. On arrival at the summit we discovered the cafe was closed so Mr. Stothart was not the most popular person in the area and John and I made his life miserable for at least an hour.

This is on the route down from Hartside and it is called the Ricker Gill crossing. This bridge was just completed this year and it replaces a rather old semi-derelict bridge. It is a splendid bridge and must have cost a fortune. I would love to have that amount of money to spend on the Langholm Walks.

Ricker Gill Bridge

2011-11-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

This weeks Wednesday walk was an exploratory walk in Hawick to look at a route for David's Birthday walk on 30th November. The walk is from the booklet "Walking in the Land of the Reivers" by I.W.Landles & A.G. Brydon. This is walk no 11 Hawick Common and Goldielands Tower and follows the route of the Hawick Cornet and his followers.

The photograph above is the famous Hawick "HUT" where on three occasions in early June in this unprepossessing wooden building a young man elected annually to lead the celebration, is entertained with songs and toasts by the men of Hawick. In the words of Ian landles "It sits here for fifty yin weeks neglected and sorry for itsel then it embarks on its yince a year week o glorious pulsatin life when it hez come ti encapsulate a' Hawick's hopes and dreams for it becomes the verra pulse o Hawick patriotism, the soul o Hawick song and story, the hub o Hawick's history and heritage"

The Ca'Knowe

This is a stone cairn marking the spot where the Burgess Roll was called at the annual checking of the marches of Hawick Common.

Hawick Moor (The Mair)

It's proper name is St. Leonard's Park and it is the location for the huge communal picnic on Common Riding Friday and Saturday and has been used for the Common Riding horse racing since 1856.

Hannah & Leo in Langholm

2011-10-31T09:42:00.000-07:00

A very smart Hannah in her new coat and boots

Leo just loves feeding the ducks

Hannah the Bird Girl

2011-10-27T04:47:00.000-07:00

Hannah's first full day of her Langholm holiday has started by spending time looking at birds. First stop was the Kilngreen to feed the ducks. Some of the ducks in the photograph below are not the usual Mallards and they are much tamer and greedier that the others. I think Tootlepedal mentioned them on his blog a few weeks ago so maybe he will kindly identify them for me.

After we had fed the ducks we went to the Moorland Feeding Station on the Lower Tarras road where Dr. Cat Barlow was ringing birds with the help of 3 volunteers from Langholm Academy. In the above photograph Cat is releasing a small bird from the mist net.

This beautiful bird is a Tree Sparrow

Hannah inspects a Coal Tit

This was the best bird we caught. It is a Spotted Woodpecker and was very noisy and managed to bite Cat several times.

Hannah strokes a young Chaffinch

Yorkshire Dales

2011-10-18T08:57:00.000-07:00

We have just spent a lovely couple of days with Sandra & Bob and Robert & Margaret at Reeth in Swaledale, Yorkshire.

This is Sandra & Bob's beautiful holiday cottage in Reeth. If any of my Blog Friends wants to hire it next year then please contact me as their will be special rates to friends of friends and it is in a beautiful little town. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and is very nice.

The Toilet Girls on an old out door bog in Reeth. Sandra, Gaye, and Margaret have been friends since their days at DO School in Glasgow.

The White House on the side of the hill seen from Sandra & Bob's house is my Cousin Hilary's house so we spent time with Hilary & her Husband John and Daughter Meg up here on Tuesday morning. Meg I am delighted to say calls Gaye and I Auntie Gaye and Uncle Gavin and we are really delighted about this. Meg and her Partner Trevor live in Reeth with their two lovely boys Sam, & Tom.

The White House

John with his tame Ferret

Lang Sandy

2011-10-13T01:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterdays walk was a nice easy low level one round the Canonbie walk. We soon ran into problems as there were about 20 cattle on the path next to the river near the "Meeting of the Waters" where the Liddel and the Esk meet. We had to shorten our walk to avoid them and I have reported the farmer to the Acess officer at D & G Council as it looks as if they had been deliberately put there and it is a dangerous situation for walkers. We lunched at Lang Sandy at Rowanburn and managed to complete the walk with hardly a drop of rain.

Eleanor & Thomas

2011-10-06T03:18:00.000-07:00

Eleanor with that wonderful smile usually after she has done something mischevious.

She loves her little brother.

Thomas usually smiles but this is him in a more serious pose.

John's Birthday Walk (At Long Last)

2011-10-06T01:32:00.000-07:00

John's birthday walk was originally planned for mid August but had to be cancelled at the last minute as John had a sickness bug. It was re scheduled for 5th October and right up to Tuesday night the weather forecast looked as if we would have to cancel. We however decided to give it a go as the forecast told us it would be rain in the morning but brighten up in the afternoon. The walk was a 12 mile circuit in the Pentland Hills just outside Edinburgh. The first 6 miles of the walk was dry but very windy and this part of the walk had us with the wind in our faces. We had lunch in the Bird Hide shown below at the Bavelaw Marsh and just as we arrived the heavens opened. The forecast had been totally wrong so for the remainder of the walk the driving rain hit us but at least we were now walking with the wind at our backs.

Martin, John, and Tom at the hide on Bavelaw Marsh.

The bird hide was a great place to have lunch and we were entertained by the many birds on view.

Threipmuir Reservoir.

Back into the Walking Routine

2011-09-29T00:06:00.000-07:00

At long last we are back in the Wednesday walking routine after all my travels. Last week the "Last of the Summer Wine" walkers had sponsored a Lecture at the Buccleuch Centre called "Ribbon of Wildness" about Scotland's watershed. Tom therefore decided we should walk the first part of it at Peel Fell on the Border near Northumberland. We headed off to Keilder on a beautiful morning. Tom thought it would be a 6 mile walk with a fairly steep climb. It tuned out to be a 10 mile walk climbing almost to 2000ft and 4 miles of it were on a bog with the going very difficult. It was however a superb day's walking, but we were all extremely tired at the finish and my hips will be sore for a few days. This photograph is taken at the Reivers Stane on the way to Peel Fell

Coastal Erosion

2011-09-20T12:52:00.000-07:00

The village of Aldbrough is about 2.5 miles from the sea but 10 years ago it would be about 3 miles from the sea and 100 years ago it was about 5 miles. The erosion seems to be happening at a greater speed than ever and you can see from the above photo that the road now comes to a dead end. but it used to go for a further half mile a few years ago. There are several cottages, holiday huts and even bungalows along this road that will slip into the sea in the next few years.

By the end of the coming winter it is highly likely that these caravans will have to be moved before they slip into the sea.

Visit to Hull

2011-09-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

Lunch at the Humber Bridge just before we came home. Auntie Eileen in the middle flanked by daughters Lesley & Stella. Unfortunately I managed to cut Colin out of the photograph so my apologies Colin.

Lesley, Colin, & Gaye outside The Deep near the marina in Hull.

Auntie Brenda with Lesley & Colin on our visit to Aldbrough on the Yorkshire Coast

Craig irving's Wedding

2011-09-20T12:31:00.000-07:00

Three days after arriving back from Utah we headed off to Lincolnshire for the wedding of Craig and Alison. Despite two hours stuck on the A1(M) on Friday afternoon we made it to Lincolnshire to stay with friends Stewart & Carol. We were much luckier than John Irving and other wedding guests travelling down from Edinburgh as they were stuck on the motorway for up to 5 hours on Friday afternoon. The wedding however went very well and the weather was quite good and especially for the photos. They were a lovely happy couple and made everybody present feel very welcome.

John and Annette with the Bride & Groom

Gaye and Gavin outside Carol & Stewart's house in Metheringham.

The Graham Clan in Utah

2011-09-11T15:41:00.000-07:00

Thomas Gavin Graham

2011-09-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

This wee boy is an absolute smasher and smiles all day

The Casch Valley - Northern Utah

2011-09-04T15:07:00.000-07:00

Despite there being virtually no rain for the last 3 months this area in the centre of the valley is very marshy and is a stopping off place for many migratory birds on their way to and from Canada. This valley has as it's main town a place called Logan pop. 50k and it is hoped that the marshy area between it and Mendon will stop further development of housing.

Mendon

2011-09-04T15:00:00.000-07:00

Fraser with Thomas at our picnic on the Logan river on Saturday afternoon.

The view from the back of Carlo & Sidne's House.

Bear River Lodge

2011-09-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

This is the Lodge we stayed in for our 2 night break. Bear River is about 8000ft up in the Uinta Mountains.

Great fun but boy was I sore by the end of the day. Fraser and I covered about 30 miles on these ATVs

Fraser

Leslie & Fraser

Lily Lake which is stocked with loads of trout. They actually drop them into the lake from an aircraft every summer.

Gaye and Fraser. They only went a short distance and this is about the only time Gaye smiled.

Leslie with Eleanor on the pool.

The Birthday Girl

2011-08-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

The theme for the party was Toy Story 3 so everybody was wearing a Bandana just like Woody in the film and Ellie also had a cowboy hat.

Eleanor's 2nd Birthday

2011-08-28T20:12:00.000-07:00

The Graham Family in the local park at West Jordan for Eleanor's 2nd birthday party.

Granny Gaye and Thomas

Cousins Jacob & Easton with Ellie

Eleanor and Almond

2011-08-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

With the weather being so hot Eleanor loves to play with the hose and fill the paddling pool much to the delight of Almond who also loves water. The pair of them had great fun cooling down this afternoon with the temperature at 99F.

Building a Trail

2011-08-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

When I have walked in the Lake District or the Highlands of Scotland I always say I would never like the job of building the trails. I spoke too soon. Fraser's Nephew Easton recruited Fraser and me to help with this trail in Mill Creek Canyon to enable him to get his Eagle Scout Badge. The trail being built is about 3 miles and will link up Mill Creek Canyon with the Great Western Trail which stretches from Canada to Mexico. We set of at 7.00am to beat the heat and parked the car at 7200 ft up Mill Creek Canyon and then had to walk for an hour carrying tools to 9000ft to work on the last section of the trail. We started work at 10.00am and had to finish by 12 noon and then walk for an hour back down the trail carrying all our tools. By the finish I was absolutely knackered but the views were spectacular and it was a job well done, They hope to be finished before the snow arrives in October.

A welcome lunch break for Fraser and me

These guys do this every day. They are ski resort workers in the winter and do this in the summer.

A mountain meadow near the end of the trail.

The trail on the left in the Great Western Trail and our trail will eventually join up with this.

Easton

Easton and his Mum Nancy

Fraser & Leslie's New Home

2011-08-25T17:23:00.000-07:00

From the Front

From the side showing the double garage

The Garden at the back of the house

Salt Lake City Water Park

2011-08-24T16:48:00.000-07:00

Leslie & Eleanor having fun

Gaye spent the time looking after Thomas

Jacob (Fraser's Nephew) liked a drookit rat after coming down the giant slide.

Leslie & Eleanor at the Water Park

2011-08-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

Eleanor and Thomas

2011-08-23T15:27:00.000-07:00

Enjoying glorious weather in West Jordan where Fraser & Leslie have their new house. It is a suburb of Salt Lake City.

An Evening with Phil Cunningham & Aly Bain

2011-08-19T15:33:00.000-07:00

Gaye enjoys a chat with Phil Cunningham. It was the first evening of the new Buccleuch Centre programme featuring a concert by Scotlands No 1 Duo Phil Cunningham & Ali Bain. We had been invited by the Show's sponsor Jean Weatherstone so enjoyed pre show Bucks Fiz and canape and of course an opportunity to meet Phil & Aly. the concert was a sell out and a fantastic evening with superb music and the jokes from Phil were very funny.

Fellow blogger Tom Hutton and his wife Alison

Our sponsor Jean with Phil & Aly

Old Boys Brigade Photographs

2011-08-16T14:54:00.000-07:00

Gavin Graham, John Wallace, and Rod Beattie at Borgue in 1966

My Father Tommy Graham, John & Margaret Cameron, and Uncle Wilf from Hull at Dunbar BB Camp Parents Day 1968

Tommy Graham, Adam Beattie, and his son Rod Beattie

Graham Robertson, ?, Douglas Cameron, Niall Weatherstone

Church Parade at BB Camp - Borgue 1966

All these photographs have been digitalised from old slides by Langholm Archive Group

Best Pals

2011-07-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

It's not often that I wear a tie but on Common Riding Day it's nice to be smart and of course John is always smart.

Bruce & John

Langholm Common Riding

2011-07-29T08:07:00.000-07:00

Crossing the Ewes and by now he was looking a much happier Cornet

A very apprehensive Cornet Earsman before he heads up the Kirk Wynd.

Cornet Earsman flanked by the Right & and Left hand men on their way up the Kirk Wynd

Ray Elliot cries the Langholm Fair

The Journey Home

2011-07-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

The return journey was even more spectacular than the one down a week ago with a larger Jet laid on to take David, Tom, and myself back to Carlisle airport. We left the holiday house at 9.45am and by 12 noon we were back in Langholm. A great week's walking in excellent company and with superb weather and excellent food. Martin & John were staying on in Cornwall for a few more days in John's case and a week for Martin.

The Bays and Beaches of North Cornwall

2011-07-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

In our week of walking we covered 55 miles of the North Cornwall Coastal Footpath plus another 7 miles along the Camel Trail. We seemed to just go from one Bay or Beach to another and each one was spectacular in it's own way. Some of them could only be reached by walking the Coastal Footpath so they were usually empty. These 14 photographs are of the many beaches on our route and there are probably at least another 6 more as by the end of each day I was usually too tired to bother about taking another photograph.

Walking the Cornwall Coastal Path

2011-07-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

Early on the first day when we totally misjudged how far the walk would be and had to walk 13 miles instead of the planned 9 from Holywell Bay to Trenance . By the end of the day we were absolutely shattered and poor Martin had bad blisters. The reason we misjudged the distance was we were unaware how much the footpath winds in and out along the coast. There are also many occassions when we dropped down to sea level and then had to climb back up to 350ft only to drop down to sea level again half an hour later.

A Cornish Tin Mine on the route.

This stretch of beach is over 2 miles long and despite it being a lovely day there was hardly anybody on it.

One of several Lighthouses on our route

On Thursday we first of all walked the Camel Trail from Wadebridge to Padstow and then took the ferry from Padstow to Rock and walked for another 3 miles to the small Church called Endonoc where John Betjeman is buried. Martin pays homage to this great poet.

This seat overlooking the grave of John Betjeman was an ideal place to stop for a break and the views from it were just stunning.

On Thursday evening we were joined by John's fiancee Sandria and dined very well in Rick Stein's Cafe.

David having a well earned rest after walking along this very difficult footpath on the final day of our walk.

Travel to Cornwall

2011-07-10T12:20:00.000-07:00

Our annual walking week was in Cornwall walking the North Cornwall Coastal Path. We were delighted to be offered the use of a Private Jet by David so took off from Carlisle at about 1.20pm and arrived at Newquay airport just over an hour later. Definately the best way to travel. David unfortunately had a funeral in Glasgow on Monday so he flew down after it and joined us on Monday evening. The plan was to walk about 10 miles a day for 6 days. The weather was glorious when we took off and it stayed that way until Monday night when we had heavy rain, but Tuesday's walk was again in excellent weather and this was the pattern for the rest of the week with rain at night and lovely weather during the day. Only on the Friday afternoon did we encounter a couple of showers during the time we were walking.

Wattie's Ducks

2011-06-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

These six Ducks were incubated under the Hen so they think it is their mother. The Duck in the background is sitting on 12 eggs due to hatch this week so with a bit of luck Wattie will have 18 Ducks running around at Winterhope

Slow Worms

2011-06-27T11:57:00.000-07:00

I took Leo & Hannah this morning to a secret place where the Moorland Project have put some carpet tiles down and these attract Slow Worms especially in the morning as they are attracted to areas of heat. The most I have ever seen under one tile is about double the number under this tile.

An Afternoon at Walby Farm Park

2011-06-27T11:51:00.000-07:00

Leo just loves playing on a Tractor

These bikes were great fun but a bit tiring for Fiona

Hope Bubble and Sunshine back in Newcastle don't see this or they will be jealous

Fun at the Kilngreen

2011-06-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

The Finger of God

2011-06-17T07:45:00.001-07:00

The Finger of John points to the Finger of God

The Singing Sands of Eigg

2011-06-17T07:39:00.000-07:00

Eigg the Green Island

2011-06-17T06:31:00.000-07:00

Lageorna B & B in the village of Cleadale. The island is fighting back regarding loss of inhabitants and their seems to be more young families moving onto the island than any other of the Hebrideam Islands. This is due to the fact that they now own the Island and have a say in its future. Most of the houses have Broadband and of course their own electricity supplied by Eigg Electric Co. Ltd. and new projects like the pier and the supply of electricity have ensured that locals have jobs. It is without doubt one of the nicest islands we have been on over our 10+ years of walking on Scotland's Islands.

The Bay of Laig and the view from my bedroom window in the B & B called Lageorna which also had a very good restaurant and I can definately reccomend the food.

Everywhere you go on Eigg there are new houses or old houses being improved and this is an example of a modern house built to strict green credentials.

The Island of Eigg has now become one of the Greenest places in Britain and is completely self sufficient in providing it's own electricity. The electricity is generated by Hydro, Wind, and Solar Power and although there are times it struggles to cope with demand every house has taken steps to reduce their carbon footprint, eg nobody has a Tumble Dryer and every house has eco light bulbs etc.

A Scramble on Eigg

2011-06-17T06:03:00.000-07:00

An Sgurr taken from the ferry as we travelled between Muck and Eigg.

I felt as knackered as I looked but it was really worthwhile and the views were fantastic.

John being much fitter than me looks as cool as a cucumber but did admit to actually breaking into a sweat and being quite tired.

I know you think it is impossible to get to the top without being an experienced climber but there is a route and we did make it to the top.

The highest Mountain on Eigg is called An Sgurr and it is a difficult walk to the top. I say walk , but it is more of a scramble especially the final 300ft to the top. The mountain is only 1400ft, therefore cannot probably be called a mountain but a hill. It is however quite a challenge especially for old men like John and myself. We arrived on Eigg on the Tuesday ferry from Mallaig and as the weather was so good we decided to tackle the toughest walk on our first day and then if the weather broke we would have done the most difficult walk. Once we had been dropped off at our B & B in Cleadale at the north end of the Island we set out to tackle An Sgurr and this involved walking back to the opposite end of the Island. The walk took 5 hours and we covered 9 miles and made it back to the main road about 5 minutes too late to catch the 5.00pm mini bus from the Ferry, but fortunately the mini bus works on Eigg time and was therfore about 15 minutes late so we managed to catch it and avoid an extra 2 mile walk back to Cleadale.

Alston to Haltwhistle

2011-06-09T11:54:00.000-07:00

The view from the Lambey Viaduct

Todays Last of the Summer Wine Walk was the South Tyne Trail following the old railway line from Alston to Haltwhistle. We started a couple of miles from Alston and walked 11 miles along the old railway to Haltwhistle. The Viaduct in the above photographs is the Lambley Viaduct over the South Tyne and we then walked over another Viaduct on the outskirts of Haltwhistle again over the South Tyne. A most enjoyable day including a stop at the Wallace Arms Pub in Featherstone for a sandwhich, chips, and a cup of tea. A real old fashioned pub with service without a smile.

A Weekend in Wales

2011-05-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

Over a year ago our friends Doreen and Norman bought this bungalow in the small South Wales village of Pen-Y-Fai and they have spent the last year getting it modernised. They have done a great job and only the garden area is to be completed but with a bit of luck and a good summer this should be finished this year. We took the opportunity to spend a long weekend there and this time we were lucky with the weather as it was very pleasant.

Doreen & Norman's daughter Lindsay with her husband Jon and their dog Bodhi.

We spent Saturday at a Welsh Folk Museum which was real value for money. Free entrance and a superb collection of old Welsh cottages, shops, farm buildings, and a Castle and Gardens.

This was the small garden of an old Welsh Cottage with the old dry toilet at the foot of the garden and of course Gaye would try it out.

My Birthday Walk

2011-05-18T09:12:00.001-07:00

We met this Shetland Pony and her foal on the walk so I am sure everybody will agree this makes a lovely photograph.

Another birthday so another walk. This time we did the 12 mile stage of the Roman Wall walk from Walton to Carlisle. A fairly easy stage without many hills which was just as well as almost 3 weeks of no walking made me a wee bit unfit. By the end of the 12 miles my feet were a bit sore but it was a lovely dry day, although we should have walked it the opposite way as we were walking into a strong wind all day. The day will finish with Dinner at the Buccleuch Centre and then a concert with the Searchers. What more can an old man ask for. Answers on a post card.

Bowman really enjoyed it as well as there were plenty of kissing gates and no stiles so he did not have to be lifted over any of them.

Mount Etna

2011-05-11T05:56:00.000-07:00

We stayed at the Etna Golf Hotel on the lower slopes of Mount Etna but for most of the 5 days we were there we were unable to see the mountain top. Then on the last full day there the clouds cleared and we had this wonderful view of Mount Etna with it's plume of smoke coming from it. The Golf course next to the Hotel is very attractive mostly due to the very fertile soil you find on the lower sloipes of the mountain.

Sicily

2011-05-11T05:41:00.000-07:00

These 2 photos are taken at the Fishing Village of Aci Trezza. It was advertised as a visit to a Village but to be honest it was really a town and not very attractive but the sun shone for the first time in several days so it was very pleasant.

This is the town of Taormina in Sicily and the nicest town of the holiday. It is built on the side of a hill and is 300 Metres above the shore.

The Greek Amphitheatre in Taormina

The old town of Taormina

Hotel Barbieri

2011-05-02T22:24:00.001-07:00

The view from our room balcony. It is a family run hotel and the food last night was just wonderful.

The "Sassi" Caves of Matera

2011-05-02T22:15:00.001-07:00

This is a lovely square in Lecce on Sunday and a nice place for a meal.

On Monday we moved from our Hotel to the small mountain town of Altomonte about 200 miles south. On the way there we visited another Unesco World Heritage site the "Sassi" Caves of Matera. These were occupied until the late 50s and early 60s by up to 20,000 people living in absolute poverty. The inhabitants were moved to Council accomodation and then in the 90s the area was given Unesco status. It is ironic but mow the only people who can afford to live in the caves are the wealthy.

Piazza Sant Oronzo

2011-05-01T07:58:00.000-07:00

Lecce Cathedral

2011-05-01T07:55:00.001-07:00

The local stone is a very soft limestone and this has enabled some very inticate carving to be done on the stonework of the Cathedral

A Day in Lecce

2011-05-01T07:51:00.001-07:00

About 90 m inutes from our hotel is the lovely ancient city of Lecce which is nicknamed the Florence of the South. This photograph is taken in Piazzo Sant Oronzo.

The Town Square

2011-04-29T07:39:00.001-07:00

This was the lovely town square and I have forgotten the name of the town so will amend the blog later.

Gaye outside the local church

2011-04-29T07:36:00.000-07:00

Trulli Main Street

2011-04-28T23:52:00.001-07:00

Gaye & Jean outside a Trulli

2011-04-28T23:49:00.001-07:00

Two smart young ladies outside this beautiful Trulli house.

A Trulli Village

2011-04-28T23:43:00.001-07:00

This is the Trulli village in Arberobello and it is the most spectacular place i have seen for a long time. They have now passed local laws to ensure the houses are preserved and all the TV arials have been removed and nobody can alter the original appearance without approval of the Council. We saw a couple advertised for sale at 125,000 Euros each. They are very small with just a couple of rooms, although some of them have been joined together to make a larger house but this is not allowed any more.

Trulli Magnificent

2011-04-28T23:37:00.001-07:00

In the town of Alberobello there is a community of these Trulli houses and they are hundreds of years old. There is no cement or mortar involved in their building. They were built this way to avoid taxes and if the tax inspector arrived in the area they could easily have the house roof removed and therefore avoid taxes.They are built so the rain can be chanelled down to tanks in the cellars.
They are still occupied today and about 3000 people live in them in Arberobello. This village is now a World Heritage Site.

Hotel La Chiusa di Chietri

2011-04-28T23:32:00.000-07:00

After a very smooth flight to Bari we arrived at our hotel about an hours drive from the Airport. It is set in lovely grounds with many Trulli houses in the grounds. I will explain more about these Trulli houses later. This is one of them in the grounds and is used as a holiday cottage.

Easter Monday at Wheelbinks Farm

2011-04-25T09:25:00.001-07:00

Our Easter Monday trip was to Wheelbinks Farm near Corbridge just off the A69. We had a nice light lunch there followed by delicious Ice Cream. The farm is a working Dairy Farm and is set in lovely countryside and the Orchard next to the Cafe is beautiful.

Leo and Hannah loved the slide and it was a hard job to keep tabs on Leo and he was up the steps and down the slide as fast as his little legs could carry him.

Opa Han and Leo in the Orchard.

Hannah on the tractor with Granny Gaye looking on.

Easter Sunday on the Tanfield Railway

2011-04-25T09:12:00.001-07:00

We were all treated by Fiona & Mario to a special Easter Sunday afternoon tea on the Tanfield Railway near Gateshead. This was especially for Mario's parents Han & Jo from Holland who were over for a week. The weather was glorious and the tea excellent so a good day was had by all.

The Tanfield Train approches the station.

Han & Jo gaze at the sandwhiches, cakes, and scones in the dining carriage of the old train.

Hannah loves her scone & jam.

Fiona & Leo on the observation platform of the train.

Met this Adder on the hill today

2011-04-21T14:57:00.000-07:00

Tom and I were on Warbla for our weekly walk today and we almost stepped on this Adder basking in the sun. The weather was glorious and the wild birds were everywhere on the hill. We had skylarks singing the entire walk and were constantly seeing Lapwings and Curlews.

Hannah & Leo in Langholm

2011-04-02T07:46:00.001-07:00

When Hannah comes to Langholm she loves to vist what we think is the nicest garden in Langholm at Wauchope Cottage the home of Tom and Alison Hutton. When Fiona & Mario went to Gretna today to do some shopping we all went along to see the garden. Hannah was soon looking into the pond for frogs and then Alison asked if she would help her to plant some peas in the greenhouse. Hannah was delighted to help and shows great enthusiasm for gardening.

Leo loves his breadsticks

The pond was full of tadpoles, snails, and many other things.

Leo and Granny Gaye watch what is going on.

Hannah watering her row of peas after helping Alison to plant them.

Trespassing

2011-03-27T08:00:00.001-07:00

Gaye and I decided to head for Rowanburn for a walk along the old railway line to the Riddings Viaduct. The photograph above is all that is left of Canonbie Station. The photograph below is the very pleasant seat on what used to be the bridge over the railway line at Canonbie Station. The daffodils were planted in 2005 by Rowanburn and Canonbie schoolchildren when they planted 26,000 of them between the two villages.

The Riddings Viaduct which was not blown up when the railway closed as it is a Skew Viaduct and therefore quite rare and Listed. There is a fence at each end to stop people from going on to it but some kind person has made a space in the fence at the Scottish end to enable people like Gaye and I to Trespass on the Viaduct. I suppose while on the Scottish side you are not trespassing as long as you dont do any damage but at the English side you are definately trespassing and would be prosecuted. I of course was not keen to break the law but Gaye made me do it.

Looking north with Scotland on the left and England on the right.

Hanging on for dear life but determined to make it accross into England.

The Wedding of Nicola-Jane Irving to Matthew Brown

2011-03-21T01:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend Gaye and I attended the wedding of our best friend John Irving's daughter Nicola-Jane to Matthew Brown. The wedding was in Edinburgh and then we were all taken by bus to Glencoe for the reception. We had a great weekend in excellent company and the weather was good. The above photo was taken at John's house before we went to the church.

Gaye photographed with John's Mother Nan and her sister Molly. They had booked Andersons Taxi to take them to the church in Edinburgh for the wedding and the driver did not have a map or a satnav so they took 3.5 hours to get to the wedding and arrived late. Luckily the bride was late so all they missed was the Brass Band and the Choir giving excellent pre wedding entertainment.

Taken at Glencoe on the way to the hotel at Ballachulich.

Martin's Birthday Walk

2011-03-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

Martin's choice for his Birthday Walk was taken from the excellent publication "Walking in the Land of the Reivers" by I.W.Landles and A.G.Brydon from Hawick. It starts at the Stobs Camp 4 miles south of Hawick on the Hawick to Newcastleton road. The camp was a German Prisoner of War camp in the First World War and an army camp in the second world war.

This photograph was taken at the highest point on the walk Penchrise Pen (1430ft). John and I knew where we were but as usual Tom is lost and Martin is searching for the answer.

At the furthest point of the walk in the middle of the forest is a stone called The Tinlee Stone and it is believed it was used as a meeting point by the Wardens of the Marches in the reiving period. It was a very difficult job finding it but Martin persisted and was eventually successful.

On the way back we came to this extensive Iron Age Earthwork and it is one of the best examples of this I have seen.

Spring at Last

2011-03-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

It was a lovely Spring day in Langholm so Gaye and I decided a wee walk was in order and we headed of round the Lodge Walks and back via the Kilngreen where we spent a lovely half hour in the sunshine. Above is a lovlely display of Crocus on the bank of the Ewes and below is Gabrielle enjoying the seat in the sun.

The Pianist

2011-02-24T05:27:00.000-08:00

Hannah loves to play Jean Weatherstone's Piano.

Lamonby Walk

2011-02-16T14:06:00.000-08:00

When Tom nominated this walk in the Eden Valley earlier this week his comments on the e mail to all of us was "flat and bland". How wrong he was it was neither flat or bland and proved to be quite a challenge in absolutely superb weather. The route started and finished in Lamonby and took us through Greystoke Forest and on to the village of Hutton Roof and then back via fields and lanes to Lamonby. It took us a full 5 hours and was measured as just under 12 miles. One amusing incident was with David's Old English Sheepdog Bowman who walks in front of us most of the time but looks back every now and again to see we are ok. He is very much in charge of the walking group and at one point Tom had held back to answer a call of nature when Bowman noticed he was about 50 yards behind us. He took off to go back and see that Tom was ok and once he had established Tom was catching up on us he took his place at the front again.

Hannah and her Scooter

2011-02-13T14:11:00.000-08:00

We headed off to Newcastle to see the family for the day and went to the local pub down the road for an excellent Bar Lunch. Hannah was determined to show us how well she can go on her Scooter. She has had it for a while but has only recently plucked up the courage to use it and now there is no stopping her. Six months from now she will have a worn left shoe and the right one will be still like new. Leo looks on wishing he could have a go.

A day at Ulswater

2011-02-11T11:10:00.001-08:00

Tom decides he is lost but luckily for him he is about to be rescued by Old English Sheepdog Bowman who will lead him in the right direction.

Looking west towards Glenridding on the shores of Ulswater and below Howtown from just above the Pier.

Wednesday was another horrible wet day so once again we postponed our walk for 24 hours and what a difference a day makes. Thursday was beautiful with blue skies and hardly a breath of wind. We headed for Pooley Bridge to catch the 12.10pm ferry to Howtown. On arriving at Pooley Bridge we were told the ferry was not operating and the pier was closed, but on further investigation we discovered it would be opened on the arrival of the boat from Glenridding and a few minutes later we could see the ferry coming towards us. We booked 3 men and a dog to Howtown to be told they could get us there but we would have to wade 25 yards from the Pier to the road as the Lake had risen about 3 feet and the footpath was flooded. We waited till the Ferry had departed before we made a spectacle of ourselves wading for 25 yards but thankfully it was not quite as bad as had been expected and we made it with slightly wet feet but our dignity intact. We then headed uphill on the 6 mile footpath back to Pooley Bridge and the views were spectacular but the ground was very wet and boggy in places. We arrived back in Pooley Bridge about 3.15pm for a refreshing cup of tea in the cafe next to the river and we were back in Langholm before 5.00pm.

Tea in Moniaive

2011-01-26T13:16:00.001-08:00

After our two hour walk round the statues we headed for Moniaive as I had been advised that there is a Teahouse there that is excellent. It is called the Green Teahouse and it was superb with one of the best toasties I have ever had accompanied with a huge cup of Assam Tea.
If anybody reading this blog is interested in walking or cycling in this area it is beautiful, very quiet and worth a visit.

Henry Moore's Two Piece Reclining Figure

2011-01-26T13:08:00.000-08:00

This is the final statue on the circuit and it is just beside the road about half a mile from the reservoir. It was a most interesting walk and we met an interesting couple from Finland who were over on a week's holiday and they thought this series of sculptures were magnificent.

Henry Moore's King & Queen

2011-01-26T13:04:00.001-08:00

Epstein's Visitation

2011-01-26T12:55:00.000-08:00

This was the most interesting of the 6 statues we saw on our walk.

This is a 1926 bronze cast of the "Visitation" by the American-born twentieth-century sculptor Sir Jacob Epstein.

The precative figure celebrates the Visitation of The Mother of Christ to her cousin Elizabeth to announce that she, Mary, is pregnant.

Henry Moore's Standing Figure

2011-01-26T12:52:00.000-08:00

The Glenkiln Cross

2011-01-26T12:48:00.000-08:00

A walk with a bit of Culture

2011-01-26T12:37:00.000-08:00

Another Wednesday so another walk and this week Tom and I decided we would include a bit of Culture with our walk and headed out to Glenkiln Reservoir where there are a series of famous sculptures on the route of the walk.
This is John the Baptist by Henry Moore.

Winter Wonderland

2011-01-21T08:01:00.001-08:00

Trees covered in frost after the freezing fog cleared for a while this afternoon. This was taken just a mile south of Bentpath.

Meeting of the Water's

2011-01-20T06:50:00.000-08:00

I never tire of this view and this morning on my regular walk round the bridges after collecting my paper the freezing mist just lifted as I crossed the Langholm Bridge leaving all the trees covered in frost. It was very spectacular so I rushed home for my camera and managed to take this photograph befor the freezing mist rolled back in.

From Kippford to Sandyhills

2011-01-19T14:23:00.001-08:00

Every Wednesday we enjoy a walk and this week it was decided to do one of the finest coastal footpaths in Scotland. The 6 mile footpath from Kippford to Sandyhills is without doubt one of the most spectacular walks in Scotland. Our plan was to arrive in Kippford in time for the 11.00am bus to Sandyhills but on arrival at the bus stop at Kippford we discovered the bus company had issued a new timetable and not withdrawn the old one from the Internet and worse still not replaced it with the new one. We decided to walk to Sandyhills and hoped we would arrive there by 1.40pm in order to catch the bus back to Kippford. We actually made it with 7 minutes to spare but to be honest walking with one eye on your watch all the time is not very enjoyable. We did however have spectacular weather and the sun shone most of the time and the sea was as flat as a pancake and also High Tide.
John & Tom between Kippford and Rockliffe with the tide at its highest.

Within half a mile of Kippford is an area on the footpath where a local resident has made all kinds of figures from bits and pieces of washed up wood and other items. It is a great place for children to explore as there are dozens of funny items on show. I think on this one he has used an old set of false teeth.

Sandyhills Bay looking from Portling.

Gavin and John with Rockliffe in the background.

Rockliffe at High Tide on a lovely winters day. It really is a beautiful village and today it was very quiet unlike at the height of summer when you cannot move for cars.

Easton's Walk - Landslip

2011-01-16T07:32:00.001-08:00

Less than a year since D & G Council spent £36k on repairing a landslip another one has happened on the walk. This was as a result of yesterdays 24 hours of rain and it looks as if it wont be long before another landslip happens as several trees are looking very precarious. It is sad to say but it is just a matter of time before the whole banking just slips into the Esk. There is unlikely to be any money available to repair it although luckily this time not a lot of damage has been done just a tunnel being filled with mud so I will try in my capacity as Chairman of Langholm Walks Group to get the Council to do the job.